“It’s awesome, let me do it again,” was my little friend’s reaction to his first light-up stamping experience, starting his picture of sea animals. He looked through the 10 stamper discs–whale, turtle, dolphin, and seahorse–and declared, “I got all the ones I like, all of them!” Kids can easily snap a new disc onto the stamper and press it into one of the three colors of ink, watching their wand light up to match the color. Then press onto the magic Color Wonder paper and the design appears. We decorated our crab, starfish and octopus with polka dots, “flames,” and stripes, using the markers provided. A creative, fun arts and crafts set in the hands of kids, can set a story into motion as children illustrate and start a plot. After a few animals were stamped on the page, he said they needed an underwater school so he drew the structure and stamped a fish at the door to serve as the teacher, ringing the bell to start class. Open ended toys that prompt the child to lead in storytelling provide an opportunity for kids to practice skills needed for reading and writing, while becoming the author AND the illustrator. My little friend liked this self-contained stamping and coloring set so much he said to me, “On this Christmas, did you wish for this?” Lucky me, I got it before Christmas!
Available at Crayola. Click here
